The disagreement started once we saw all those new Olive Garden commercials doing it. Her point is that nothing is going to taste great with the same thing used twice in a dish. I say differently. Like if you add a good Italian sauce or something and use rigatoni noddles.
they can go together, sure. Your mom’s point sounds more like a ‘balance’ kind of thing. Ideally you want different stuff in a meal instead like all protein, or all starches, etc.
It can still be tasty though